Genii Weblog

Matrix Revolutions - A contrary view

Sat 15 Nov 2003, 11:20 AM



by Ben Langhinrichs
I usuaIly stick to business and technical posts, but I felt I had to post a contrary view to the overwhelmingly negative reviews for Matrix Revolutions:

Tom Duff "marginally better than Reloaded..., but it wasn't anything to write home about"
Ned Batchelder "too pat a resolution for the clever story begun in the original Matrix"
Colin Williams "Bored me to tears actually - one can only hope they don't make another "
Carl Tyler "I went, I saw, I got very very bored"
Colin Pretorius "Pffff. I left disappointed. Great special effects (as expected), but the plot didn't live up to expectations."
Karl "No Spoon? Christ, There's no Kitchen!" (actually said about Matrix Reloaded, but such a great quote)

and those were just the bloggers.  The reviews in the papers and on-line were downright brutal.  The Cleveland Plain Dealer gave it a D rating.  

Anticipation
So, when my 13 year old son asked me to take him and three buddies, I had low expectations, to put it mildly.  I was never a huge Matrix fan, and going with him to Matrix Reloaded was a grueling experience at best, but if my 13 year old still wants me to take him to the movies (even if just to get in the door and with the promise of sitting on the opposite side of the theater, which I did), I'm there.  Gritting my teeth all the way, or so I expected.

The Experience
Well, I was very surprised.  Not only was I not gritting my teeth, I was downright entranced.  I really, really liked the movie.  In fact, it even made me want to go back and watch Matrix Reloaded again.  I have no idea what all the griping is about.  The special effects were cool, sure, but not dominant and pointless the way they were in Matrix Reloaded.  The new characters were interesting, the plot twists tied up some of the story, and the end was appealing and intriguing.  Perhaps best of all, the humans were actually human, the love story between Trinity and Neo was actually believable (unlike Reloaded), and the story went somewhere.  I would even voluntarily go see the movie again.

So why was my experience so different?  I don't honestly know.  I wasn't even dosed up on the codeine cough syrup I have had to take for my horrible cough.  I simply thought it was a great movie, and that it redeemed a lot of the promise of the original.  Heck, it even made me like the original more.  Go figure.

Copyright © 2003 Genii Software Ltd.

What has been said:


68.1. Thomas Duff (11/15/2003 03:41 PM)

Perhaps I should explain... Without the first two movies to compare it to, I probably would have liked it fine. Wouldn't have understood what was going on, but I would have liked it better. It was just because of the uniqueness of the first one (and the disappointment of the second) that had me wishing for more...


68.2. Ben Langhinrichs (11/16/2003 07:28 PM)

It probably helped that I wasn't that big a fan of the first one. Cool premise, but way more reliance on cool clothes and sunglasses than seemed necessary. In this latest movie, I liked the human interactions, especially with the two women determined to take down the drill (whatever it was called) in that spectacularly messy war. In general, the first Matrix was cool, perhaps too cool for me. The second was pointless and intricate, a bad combination. The third was pointed and driven and much more compelling. Not better than the first, but a good complement to it, imho.


68.3. Mark (11/17/2003 09:37 AM)

Thanks Ben - I had been dissuaded from fighting the crowds based on all the bad reviews. Now, its back on the agenda.


68.4. Carl Tyler (11/17/2003 03:48 PM)

Were they pumping pure oxygen into your cinema? Or did you manage to fall asleep for some of it, that would have made it better for me :-)